With Christmas less than a month away, I went back to my original list to find some music to get me in the holiday mood and discovered to my dismay that some of the online stations I recommended most highly are no longer available (at least to Canadians). Luckily, that drawback is more than compensated by one of the holiday radio sites having a brand-new free app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that makes it, hands-down, the best source for holiday music I’ve ever seen.

As mentioned last year, if you’re the kind of person who isn’t too picky about what Christmas music you listen to, this post probably isn’t for you. There are plenty of Christmas music stations out there that play every Christmas song under the sun (indeed, chances are in the next week or two the lowest-rated radio station in your city will switch over to holiday tunes). But if some Christmas music makes you cringe — like, I don’t know, Michael Bolton doing Christmas carols — your choices may be more limited. This is where to find online Internet radio stations that play just the specific types of Christmas music you like — which is why my top recommendations are those sites that offer a dozen or more different Christmas radio stations.

So, without further ado, here’s my updated list of the best free Christmas music radio stations for 2010, :

AccuHolidays: Last year, I mentioned AccuRadio’s website couldn’t be beat for sheer range of holiday listening choices. Not only do its nearly 40 Christmas stations offer a wide mix of different types of holiday music, while listening to any station you can skip songs you don’t like and even mix-and-match stations to get the perfect blend of holiday music you’re looking for. My only reservation about AccuHolidays last year was that, unlike most other online radio stations, you can”t stream it using Internet radio applications like WunderRadio on iPhone or iPod Touch. Given I listen to online radio primarily using my iPod Touch, that was a dealbreaker for me. Well, what a difference a year makes. You still can’t stream AccuRadio’s stations using other programs. But the service does now offer a free iPhone app. And it’s totally awesome. Like the website, the app lets you skip songs you don’t like and even completely “ban” performers you really hate from any of its station (“Goodbye, Jackson 5!”). It also shows you the cover art for every song it plays, along with detailed information on every song and performer, so, if you really love a song, you can find it easily on iTunes. Best of all, the service is almost completely ad free. After about an hour of solid listening over the weekend, I didn’t hear a single ad except for the occasional five-second “You’re listening to AccuRadio” promo. Some of AccuRadio’s 40-or-so holiday stations are frankly ridiculous — like the ones that play nothing but different versions of “Blue Christmas” — but there are so many you’re likely to find something that tickles your fancy. My favourites so far are Old-Fashioned Christmas, Holiday Classical, Holiday Jazz and Swingin’ Christmas.

181.fm: AccuHolidays is such a great service I don’t imagine I’ll need much else this holiday season. But 181.fm — and its 18 different Christmas stations — is still a solid option. And, frankly, given the technical problems I’ve had with some of the other stations (see below) there also isn’t a whole lot of other choice if you’ve got picky Christmas music tastes.My favourite 181.fm stations are Christmas Classics, Christmas Standards and Christmas Swing.

Classic Holiday Radio, a station I recommended last year, also has a decent mix if you like the old standards.

Unfortunately, several Christmas stations I recommended last year aren’t available anymore, at least to Canadians.

My top choice last year was Yahoo Radio and its 14 different holiday stations, ranging from pop music to classical. Unfortunately, Yahoo Radio — which is powered by CBS Radio — no longer streams to Canadians, which means if you don’t live in the U.S., you’re out of luck. That may not be such a bad thing, anyways. After recommendation Yahoo’s stations last year, I started to sour on it a bit — finding it played more cheesy songs than I first realized. Its ads — which ran about every 30 minutes — also started to irritate me. I suspect even if Yahoo was available north of the border, I’d be suggesting you check out AccuHolidays or 181.fm instead.

SKY.fm Christmas Channel, which I recommended last year, is still available through your web browser but I can’t seem to get it to work anymore on my iPod Touch. Same thing with RadioIO’s three Christmas stations: I can get them to work on the website, but not through third-party apps. RadioIO does appear to have an iPhone app, too, but it wouldn’t work without me signing up for an account — an unnecessary hassle in my books when AccuRadio doesn’t require the same.

If you’ve found a great Christmas Internet radio station I haven’t mentioned here, please post the details in the comments.

Finally, if Internet radio isn’t your thing, the other inexpensive option for holiday listening is to download a cheap “virtual compilation CD” from iTunes (check out my recommendations here).

Hey, I wanted to mention I was watching Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, and Target is offering 13 free downloads of NEW Christmas music from bands I have never heard of..(I’m 45!!) but it sounds like it would be fun and unconventional. Anyway, the website is: target.com/holidayalbum Hope this was helpful!

Hello everyone! For the best online Christmas music, everyone should try http://www.mostwonderfultimeoftheyear.com The people who run it are really funny and it is free to everyone. They have live shows on Sunday nights through Christmas. Check it out.